Mattresses,seats and the like



Aug. 26, 1969 Filed Jan. 6, 1967 L. T. DOCKER MATTHESSES, SEATS AND THE LIKE 4 SheetwSheet 1 L. T; DOCKER MATTRESSES, SEATS AND THE LIKE Aug. 26, 1969 Filed Jan. 6, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Au 26, 1969 v 1 T. DOCKER MATTRESSES, SEATS AND THE LIKE 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 6, 1967 Aug. 26, 1969 'r, DOCK ER 3,462,774

" MATTRESSES, SEATS AND THE LIKE Filed Jan. 6, 1967 v 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent 3,462,774 MATTRESSES, SEATS AND THE LIKE Leslie Thomas Docker, Chadwick End, England, assignor to Slumberland Group Limited, Tyseley, England, a

British company Filed Jan. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 607,746 Claims priority, applicatitgilgigeat Britain, Jan. 8, 1966,

9 Int. Cl. A47c 23/02, 23/04 US. Cl. -260 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE In a mattress, seat, or like article for lying or sitting on and incorporating an assembly of interconnected loadsupporting springs an edge or border of the spring assembly is stiffened by fitting to the assembly one or a plurality of stiffening members each comprising a length of stiff wire bent to U form, the members when applied lyipg in the plane of the top or bottom of the assembly and' the limbs of the members being secured to the spring assembly, whereby the stiffening members distribute the load over a number of springs and prevent or reduce localised deflection of the assembly.

This invention relates to improvements in mattresses, seats and like articles for lying or sitting on and incorporating an assembly of interconnected springs.

The interconnection of the springs within the assembly distributes the load when the article is in use but is not completely effective for this purpose at the edges of the assembly.

In "mattresses of the spring centre type it is known to provide reinforcing springs or stabilisers at the edges of the spring unit, the stabilisers being located in vertical planes between upper and lower frames forming the peripheral border of the unit.

According to my invention, the edge or border of a spring assembly for a mattress, seat or the like is stiffened or reinforced by means of stiff wire members of U or hairpin outline which lie in the plane of the top or bottom of the assembly and the limbs of which are secured in any convenient manner to the spring assembly.

For example, where the end coils of adjacent rows of springs are connected by helically coiled wires the limbs of the stiffening members may be inserted into the helically coiled wires connecting adjacent or spaced rows of springs.

Alternatively, in units made on the stake Wire principle .in which the springs are connected by a straight wire linkage, the limbs of the stiffening member may be clipped to the straight wires.

Some embodiments of my invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a portion of a spring centre for a mattress incorporating a stiffening member in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an end view of the assembly shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view showing the application of my invention to another form of spring assembly;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of a portion of another form of spring assembly incorporating my invention; and

FIGURES 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are perspective views of various forms of stiffening member in accordance with my" invention.

FIGURES 1 and 2 show a spring assembly for a mattress comprising parallel lines of resilient wire spring members 10, portions of the adjacent coils in each line and adjacent lines being interconnected by helically coiled ice wires 11 extending at right angles to an edge of the assembly.

The assembly is reinforced adjacent to the edge by a stiffening member 12 made from a length of stiff wire bent to the form of a U with a straight base and two parallel limbs extending at right angles to the base. The member 12 is inserted from the edge of the assembly, the limbsbeing threaded into the helically coiled wires 11. When the member is fully home its base abuts against the edge of the assembly as shown more particularly in FIGURE 1.

The spacing between the limbs of the member 12 may be equal to the spacing between adjacent coiled connecting wires 11 or to a multiple of that spacing.

FIGURE 3 shows a spring assembly in which rows of individual upholstery springs 13 of hour-glass form are connected to each other and to the springs in adjacent rows by helically coiled wires 14, and stiffening members 15 of U form are inserted into the coiled connecting wires14 from the edge of the assembly, the width between the limbs of each stiffening member being equal to the spacing between adjacent connecting wires. The spring assembly is enclosed by a peripheral wire frame member 16 to which the end coils of the springs in the outer row are connected by a coiled wire 17, and the base of each stiffening member may be included within the connecting wire 17 which is applied after the stiffening members have been inserted, or the bases of the stiffening members may be attached to the frame member 16 by clips or rings.

The length of the limbs of the stiffening members may be equal to the width of two or more rows of springs.

FIGURE 4 shows in plan a part of a spring assembly made on the stake wire principle in which the end coils of spaced load-supporting springs 18 are connected by a straight wire linkage 19.

In this case stiffening members 21 of U form have the spacing between their limbs equal to the spacing between parallel adjacent wires of the linkage and the limbs are secured to these wires by clips 22. The base of each stiffening member may also be included in a helically coiled connecting wire 23 which attaches the end coils of the springs to a peripheral wire frame 24.

The stiffening members shown in FIGURES l to 4 are formed by bending a length of stiff wire to a simple U form with straight limbs 25, 25 and a straight base 26 as shown in FIGURE 5.

If desired the limbs may be crimped or corrugated as shown at 27 in FIGURES 6 to 9 to give the member additional stiffness.

The limbs may be curved out of the plane of the member adjacent to the base as shown at 28 in FIGURE 7, or the base may be bowed in a plane at right angles to the plane of the member as shown at 29 in FIGURE 8.

Where a stiffening member is to be fitted adjacent to a corner of a spring assembly a radius may be provided at the junction of one limb with the base as shown at 31 in FIGURE 9.

It will be appreciated that any number of wire stiffening members can be employed according to the degree of reinforcement required.

When a load is applied to the edge of the. mattress the stiffening members distribute the load over a number of springs and reduce or prevent localised deflection of the assembly.

The stiffening members may be applied to one surface only of a spring centre of a mattress but as a mattress is normally turned over from time to time they will usually be applied to both surfaces.

Tests have shown that my improved stiffening or reinforcing members are extremely effective and they have the advantage that they are simple and economical to manufacture and fit and they can be applied to spring centres of a wide variety of types and incorporating a variety of different forms of spring.

My invention may be of considerable value for application to hospital or folding mattresses. In such mattresses in use at present the shape of the mattress is distorted because there is not a proper edge. The provision of stiffening members in accordance with my invention will provide a flexible edge without the mattress losing its shape.

I claim:

1. A mattress, seat or like article for lying or sitting on, embodying an assembly of a plurality of load supporting springs arranged in parallel rows within a peripheral frame, the end coils of adjacent springs being interconnected at their top and bottom surfaces of the assembly by wire elements, stiff reinforcing wire members of U- shape configuration being insertable into said assembly from an edge of the assembly, said wire members arranged to lie in the plane of the top and in the plane of the bottom of said assembly with the parallel legs of each of said members being spaced apart a distance which is an integral multiple of the spacing between adjacent rows of springs and said legs being extended parallel to and engaged by said wire elements.

2. A mattress, seat or like article as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wire elements comprise helically coiled wires with the legs of said Wire members being positioned within said coiled wires.

3. A mattress, seat or like article as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wire elements comprise straight wire linkages with the legs of said wire members being clipped to said wire linkages.

4. A mattress, seat or like article as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said wire members has a substantially straight base portion disposed at right angles to the leg portions of said wire members so that when the wire member is applied to the assembly said base portion lies against and is attached to said peripheral frame.

5. A mattress, seat or like article as set forth in claim 1 wherein the legs of said wire members are crimped to give them additional stiffness.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,343,565 6/1921 Hunt 5-261 2,120,093 6/ 1938 Foster 5260 2,211,925 8/1940 Gleason 5-260 2,240,051 4/ 1941 OMalley 5270 XR 2,291,390 7/ 1942 Krakauer 5260 XR 2,579,818 12/1951 Goldstein 5260 2,993,215 7/1961 Rymland 5270 3,084,353 4/1963 Levine 5248 ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner RAYMOND D. KRAUS, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 5261 

